Pages

Saturday, 18 July 2015

Game 135 - Ogre Kingdoms - 2015/03/25

Game 8 - Battle Line - Tom - Ogre Kingdoms

Finally the report from the last game! This time I met Tom aka Forgebreaker and his Ogres. I haven't played against them for ages so I was looking forward to the battle and I also hoped to finish the tournament with a great game!

Tom had a few usual suspects but there were also a few surprises. Here is his list in more details:

Slaughtermaster - often Ogre's general and there is no exception here. 4++ ward save, T5 and 5W mean that he is hard to kill indeed. On top of that his Gnoblar Thiefstone makes his ward save 2++ against certain spells and helps his bodyguards to survive some attacks too. Stealing some precious items from the enemy is a great bonus too! He has lore of Maw that can be quite good at protecting or making the Ogres stubborn.

BSB - He adds some punch indeed. With greedy fist and great weapon he adds 4 S8 attacks, that hurts. He is not, however, that well protected but the fact Ogres have quite a few wounds and high toughness is a protection in itself. Star Lance hero has a chance to kill him in a single combat though, with Potion of Foolhardiness. But it would be risky as the eagle rider would suffer from the attacks back, either by BSB or the unit he is in.

Firebelly - Always useful with his flaming attacks, breath and lore of fire. His "Toad Scroll" can be quite dangerous for the Loremaster as he is only level 2!

Butcher - another wizard with good magic lore, thanks to that Tom had a very nice spells selection. Heavens is a great lore and with more spells to threaten my army I would need to choose wisely what to dispel.

Ironguts - gut star, with banner of discipline as usual. With any or even all characters in this unit it would be very hard to tackle them. First, I absolutely have to avoid frontal attacks. Only flanks and rear are the directions from which I may risk confrontation. But in order to do that I would need to clear the support first and in this army support troops are formidable on their own. In that case I planned to avoid this regiment and if possible, thin it down until last turn attacks. But in order to succeed I would need to have overwhelming forces to attack with.

Gnoblars - often used as additional drops I consider them very useful. Very cheap can simply protect the flanks well and interfere with the movement of the enemy. And they are truly expendable.

Ogres - small unit does not look like a threat but cannot be ignored, in particular if attacking from the flank. Fortunately, my heavy cavalry can outpace them and defeat them in one-on-one combats so I will look for the opportunities to do so!

Leadbelchers - very dangerous thanks to the fact they can move and fire and do not add penalties to shooting for doing so. They are big enough to make a difference in close combat too. Excellent regiment and I was lucky there was only one unit of these. But I would need to try and attack them as soon as possible. At the same time I would need to stay away from them. I might try some shooting but I will have some hard choices to make as they are not the only danger I would need to address quickly.

Sabertusks - great diverters, fast and strong enough to do war machine hunting on their own. I would need to hunt them down as quickly as possible.

Ironblaster - another priority. If unchecked it will keep hunting down my nobles and can potentially get flank shots as it can move and fire. Very useful. I would need to send eagle rider and heavy cavalry against it as it is too tough for reavers to even hope to hurt it.

Giants - wild card of the army. They are quite unpredictable but because of that they cannot be ignored either. They are relatively fragile but would need quite a large amount of firepower to be destroyed. I wanted to treat them as priority for shooters so that I could wound them and finish in combat before they would attack.

In general, Ogres are dangerous because they are fast, tough and hit hard in combat. Their stomps and impact hits add nicely to their combat potential and can devastate any unit of mine if charged. So I would need to make sure they don't and that I will be the attacking force. Ogres are fast but I have units that are still faster. As usual the way to defeat the enemy would be to divide and conquer. I also have shooting and magic that can hurt enemy units at the distance although I estimated I would have 2 turns only before Ogres attack.

Terrain

In the last game I had a table with quite a good amount of terrain. Large hills in two corners, some forests to affect the shooting and possibly add more effects. Swamp that can be both, a benefit and liability. But I always like water on the battle field as it negates ranks and removes steadfast. It should be used to advantage for sure.

The small pillars in the top left were dangerous terrain that was important for potential movement of flanking forces. It was still hard to decide which side I would prefer to pick but I lost the roll-off and Tom chose North.

Deployment

Deployment of the armies after vanguards

After vanguards I realized I made a mistake of moving Reavers on the right flank forward. I have no idea why I did it but it was foolish to put them in shooting range of Leadbelchers #-o

Slaughtermaster and BSB joined Ironguts. Butcher was with Leadbelchers. On the Elven side, BSB was with the left Archers while Loremaster joined right regiment.

Ogres advance quickly towards the thin blue line. They use the opportunity given by the foolish young reavers and teach them the lesson leaving just one survivor to tell the tale. Ironblaster thunders from afar and single dragon prince dies.

Poor giant entered the forest only to learn that it was venomous wood and hurt his foot already.

Outcasts - Turn 1

Attack on the left flank

Shooting on the right

Elves had to act quickly so heavy cavalry attacked small unit of ogres to secure the flank. Big brutes decided to hold but were destroyed. On the right flank lone reaver leveled his spear and charged big cat prowling nearby but could not land the blow. Despite the momentum of the charge sabertusk didn't turn tail and started circling around the elven warrior.

The shooters aimed at either leadbelchers or giant as some of the archers could not target the same enemy yet due to lack of range. The giant was hurt and one leadbelcher was killed.

Ogre Kingdoms - Turn 2

Moving forward at a double

Almost there!

Ironguts and giants didn't slow down at all and kept running forward. One of them was hurt again by the treacherous forest! Ironblaster kept hunting Elven noble but this time his magical shield saved him.

No battle counts for real if some regiment is not fleeing off the table! This time Swordmasters decided it is time to go home after a few casualties. Really, they could have waited for a better excuse.

Outcasts - Turn 2

Apologies for the blurry picture

Larry the Loremaster is on Fire!

Eagle rider flew to the very edge of the battle field, staying close to attack the Ironblaster but not too close to risk grapeshot. Dragon Princes marched fast too and risked jumping over the dangerous terrain that claimed one of their companions. Cavalry commander joined them quickly and all were getting ready to charge through the storm of fire.

Reavers on the left hunted down the sabertusk but the lone young warrior on the right flank finally left an opening and the big cat got him!

Then Larry the Loremaster entered the stage. First, he cast seemingly innocent magic missile made from pure light that Slaughtermaster ignored. TO his surprise that missile turned into an inferno that claimed one giant. He tried to stop fireball but Larry the Loremaster was on Fire and the attempt to dispel the spell failed. Another giant went down! (Edit: I tried to wound the giants before inevitable combat but I got some crazy rolls. d6S4 hits claimed no less but 4 wounds on one giant and that was enough to kill it as it was wounded already. Second giant got 2d6 S4 hit and that too was enough to kill it as both of them have lost 2 wounds each so far!)

The shooters were very impressed and tried to kill lone figure on the hill (I can't remember if it was Butcher or Firebelly) and the Ogre was left barely standing with single wound left!

Unfortunately, not all were so lucky. Lions charged Leadbelchers in an attempt to slow their advance but fear overwhelmed them and they managed to kill only one ogre while the attacks back claimed all of them. (Edit: As soon as I got these crazy rolls I was concerned as sometimes they are followed by the ones you don't like at all. Lions failed their Ld8 test with a re-roll. It meant they were hitting on 5's instead of 3's and were hit on 3's instead of 4's :()

Ogre Kingdoms - Turn 3

The momentum of the attack was stalled

Ironguts kept moving forward

The momentum of the attack was definitely stalled but Ironguts pushed forward and trampled the eagle blocking their way. Leadblechers waited for their wounded comrade and moved towards the elven lines too. Ironblaster claimed cavalry commander who was no more tricks up his sleeve to save him.

Outcasts - Turn 3

Disaster!

Wrong type of fireworks!

Dragon Princes wanted to avenge their commander and charged the Ironblaster. They wounded it but the crew kept their rinox in check and they didn't flee. Eagle rider was supposed to join the fight but could not make it on time (Edit: I rolled 1,1,2 for charge distance).

The regiments maneuvered around Ironguts trying to isolate the Leadbelchers instead. Larry the Loremaster tried some ice magic this time but it seems that the tension it created between fire and ice resulted in a Dimensional Cascade despite his insurance policy in the form of the Earthing Rod. Detonation claimed him and at least half of the unit of archers! (Edit: As often I got double 6 on just two dice. When I rolled cascade I thought I am ok because I have my trusty item. But somehow I managed to re-roll 1,2 result into 1,1! To add insult to injury I didn't get that 4+ to save my general. At least the unit didn't panic!)

What a turn of events!

Ogre Kingdoms - Turn 4

Ogres charge!

Things don't look good for the Elves

Ironguts finally have somebody to attack as foolish Archers held their ground, what a mistake! They were destroyed in no time and Ogres reformed to seek another target.

Dragon Princes avoided the attacks of the Ironblaster and even managed to wound it again but the enemy still kept on fighting!

Firebelly moved out of the unit and destroyed all but one of the archers with his fiery breath but elven BSB and regimental standard bearer didn't flee.

Outcasts - Turn 4

Elves kept on fighting!

Leadbelchers defeated

Eagle rider proved that he can be late to the party twice in a row and Dragon princes called for the aid from nearby Swordmasters instead. (Edit: This time I rolled 1,1,1 for the charge range!)

Another unit of the heavy cavalry attacked stubborn Leadbelchers (due to the spell cast previous turn) but despite that they didn't hold fast and were run down in pursuit! (Edit: Tom was considering fleeing as the distance was not that short but he decided to play for more fun and seeing that I am almost crying after the spectacular loss of the Loremaster he decided to hold and let me have some fun too! Thanks Tom!)

Bob the BSB also had some score to settle and swung his great weapon wide to deal the final blow to already wounded Firebelly.

Ogre Kingdoms - Turn 5

Last attempt to kill some Elves

The spell didn't work

Seeing no targets to attack Slaughter master moved out of the unit and tried to claim regimental standard with the power of magic but that failed him. Finally, Dragon Princes managed to break the Ironblaster all by themselves!

With the fast elves too far to attack and rest of the army gone, Slaughtermaster gave the order to march away. Besides, it was definitely past lunch time and the boys were hungry.

Summary

Turn-by-turn summary animation

After-battle thoughts

Many thanks to Tom for a great game! He was a fantastic opponent and I will be honored to play against him again. In particular, I wanted to thank for letting me charge his Leadbelchers when he didn't have to and I didn't realize until after the game I was sulking so badly after the loss of the Loremaster! Sorry for that, Tom!

The game ended in a draw! And it was full of unexpected dice rolls, that's for sure!

I was happy with the development of the game until that crazy magic phase turn 2. Don't get me wrong, I was very glad I got two giants in a single phase with some S4 magic missiles. But as I expected dice gods had some cruel plan for me! :-P

I also don't blame the dice, just wanted to show how they affected the game despite the odds. Tom was great at passing Ld test no matter what the modifiers were! Ironblaster, sabertuks, they both did very well. Unfortunately, that was balanced out by total inability to land a blow with the very Ironblaster against Dragon Princes. On the other hand, rolling 1,1,2 and then 1,1,1 for charge distance with a flying noble was just hilarious!

And then the most spectacular Cascade ever! I really think Larry the Loremaster wanted to celebrate Australia's Day so badly he started fireworks a little bit early :) I didn't mention that during the previous games but he actually cascaded 4 times during that tournament and 3 times Earthing Rod saved him. 4th time his magic item didn't help but what can you do?

I am happy with the outcome of the battle and I am just wondering if we forgot to play 6th turn or simply nothing happened and I forgot to take pictures? I do remember trying to shoot at the Slaughtermaster turn 5 but I did nothing and it was unlikely I would do any harm to him.

Anyway, there were a few things I should have done better:

1. Vanguard of the reavers was plain stupid and I don't know why I did that. 2. I possibly moved Lions unnecessarily when they could have stayed behind the forest for extra protection. The charge looked reckless but I counted on killing 2 ogres and holding the Leadbelchers for some time. Maybe even win the combat and break them too! In the end I lost the unit for nothing.3. I didn't position Dragon Princes well to intercept the giant early in the game, should have checked the angle better.4. The same with the eagle against sabertusk, I left the place for it to move and I had to call reavers back to hunt it down.

I am looking forward to your feedback on what else could have been done different, on both sides!

That concludes my series of reports from CanCon 2015 and I will follow with a summary at some stage. Thanks for reading and sorry it took so long to write them all!

Tournament Summary

CanCon 2015 was another success and a great event with 120 players (and only because there was not enough space to host more!) The organization was flawless so many thanks to Tom and Mark who organized the event this year. Well done, guys and really good work!

I like the variety of armies I saw on the tables, the scenarios played well and I find active Swedish comp a very interesting approach that results in playing against unique armies that are not so soft as their comp score may suggest. As always, it is all about the player, his imagination and creativity as well as skills with the army that result in a success.

I had fantastic time, win or lose, with 8 great players with whom I would play again in no time! I hope they enjoyed the reports (if they read them :)) and I am looking forward to the future events (fingers crossed that I will be able to attend them!).

The only criticism I have is about the terrain. It looks like the plan to secure it didn't work out. Long before the event the organizers asked willing participants to provide their own terrain to the pool. It looked like they had a list of people who added a lot of their own things and everything looked amazing. On the day, however, we saw these strange papers indicating dangerous terrain and forests. To me it looked like they encountered some last second problem and that was the only solution. I am really sorry it happened as I am sure it was not their fault. Hopefully, next year they will be able to avoid that problem.

I performed better than last year but was still not good enough to get even closer the the great success from 2013. I had 4 victories, 2 draws and 2 losses that gave me 87/160 points and resulted in 37th position. I was a little disappointed as I know I can do better but as always, the fact I made some crucial mistakes during my games was the reason I lost too many points in the process. My mood improved a little bit when I noticed that many players had the same amount of points (I don't know what was used as a tie breaker as the list looked like it was sorted simply alphabetically) and that I had 20th score. Ah well, the solution is simple, I need to play better and make fewer mistakes!

2 comments:

Pity the Earthing Rod didn't help this time, I guess the lad in charge this time has to practice swinging it harder. ;-)

Even if the game ended in a draw, it was a lot of fun to read. Crazy games always are more fun like that. I love those battles like the one between the reaver and the cat. It's so little points value that it feels irrelevant, but that makes it all the more heroic. You've got your Bobs and Larries and other heroes of every army. But then, you also have your Whatever, single survivor of his unit, trying to contribute on his own. It even mattered, because if he had won against the cat, the bolt thrower could have been rescued!

Also, I really like the silliness you put into these reports. When you cast a fireball and say that Larry was on fire, it cracks me up. The explanation of the cascade also, put a smile on my face.

That game was hilarious! So many shifts here and back again! :D It was even better that the situations were so spectacular, on one hand you may think these results are simply crazy (and they were!) but on the other they are a great story too.

I learned that if I try to turn the crazy effect into some short but a little silly story then it actually adds to the fun factor. Nothing better than mocking your own army for lack of competence :D And in the case of characters it helps to develop them in the process too. I think it is as important part of the hobby as painting and playing.